China's 60th anniversary celebrations

This is stunning. Not just from the sheer military might but because it’s shot on a DSLR. In High definition. Technical gizmos aside though, the editing and use of stop motion and slow-mo really work. And really liking the pixelated camouflage bedecking the PRC army vehicles.

Very powerful – but is this photography or film making? (not that it matters). The creator is Dan Chung a photojournalist at The Guardian, who has moved away from static imagery into moving image. A photographer’s eye with an editor’s sense of timing.

Watch the video on vimeo.

Got a new route to work!

Looks like it's going to be shorter, safer and quicker - F*ck yeah!
The pink line was my old route, the light blue line is my new path.

A sunday cycle ride with Em led me along a previously ignored set of Southwark back streets. This morning being up early and enjoying the sunshine cycle ride I explored further. A prime example of why it's good to step out of a routine and try something new. Bad Phil!

People, it's looking positive. My only concern is traffic volume during the school run and feasibility for returning that way in the evening. Ha Ha! - lets find out.

No. 4 Quote of note

Alice came to a fork in the road. "Which road do I take?" she asked.
"Where do you want to go?" responded the Cheshire cat.
"I don't know," Alice answered.
"Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

No. 3 Quote of note

"Walking these New Zealand Mountains stimulated my memory. My need for this strange landscape was profound. Travel, which is nearly always seen as an attempt to escape from the ego, is in my opinion the opposite. Nothing induces concentration or inspires memory like an alien landscape or a foreign culture. It is simply not possible (as romantics think) to lose yourself in an exotic place. Much more likely is an experience of intense nostalgia, a harking back to an earlier stage in your life, or seeing clearly a serious mistake But this does not happen to the exclusion of the exotic present. What makes the whole experience vivid, and sometimes thrilling, is the juxtaposition of he present and the past – London seen from the heights of Harris Saddle."
Paul Theroux, The Happy Isles of Oceania

SE Asia photos

Photos available to view from my trip to Vietnam and Cambodia - with a brief glimpse of Hong Kong and Bangkok at either end.

Vietnam and cambodia sketches

Having arrived back in London I am now hibernating from the cold. Drawings from my trip are on my Flickr site. Take a look...

No. 2 quote of note

"I came to Tibet hoping to find answers to all my unasked questions, but I have discovered that even when the questions are clear, there are no clear answers. I am sick of traveling. I need to hold onto something familiar, even if it is just a tea cup. I cannot survive in the wilds - nature is infinite but my life has bounds. I need to live in big cities that have hospitals, bookshops and women. I left Beijing because I wanted to be alone and to forge my own path but I now know that no path is solitary, we all tread across each others beginnings and ends."
Ma Jian, Red Dust

No. 1 quote of note

"There are still many white mountains to cross but I am on my way home. I am leaving the wilds and returning to the dirty crowds of the city. But I am not afriad of them any more. They cannot hurt me now. I have changed."
Ma Jian, Red Dust

Robert Capa at the barbican

How very true.

Copenhagen

Back from my hols, pics upoaded here

Fuller write up to follow but in short:
pros: beer quality, sunny sunlight, beautiful people, appreciation of design, proximity to sea, love of outdoor life (cat naps in the sun).
cons: beer prices, open sandwiches.

Sunday night is BBC2 night

If sunday morning's are all about the radio, the melancholy moods of sunday evening are dispelled thanks to a bit of escapism on the goggle-box.

BBC2 is surpassing itself at the moment. Following a slap up feed and few beers of fruity charm (tonight = salmon, roast pots and greens with Green King IPA) I relax on my bean bag and enjoy a visual feast.

Ray Mears starts preceedings, and although he can be a bit preachy and a bit of a hippy I do admire his holistic approach and envy the places he tramps to. He can keep the grub canapes and ant medicines though. Tonight he wandered through Northern Queensland with the Bush Tucker Man.

Wild China follows directly afterwards and the sumptuous landscapes bring back my happy travels through that amazing country. It's a good mix of ideas - ecology, anthropology, and nature are effectvley bundled together.

The night is rounded off by Jonathan Dimbleby travelling through Russia. One of the better moments tonight? Chucking back Vodka as he orders trout in the dining car of a siberian express train. The man is pure class, if only there were more broadcasters of his calibre on our airwaves, his silken vowels and twinkley-eyed engagement with hairy russians is as intoxicating as the booze.

New photos uploaded to flickr

Assorted photos added to my flickr account.
Nothing recent, just a few nice ones that perhaps should have been included in the original selection. Locations include China, Australia and California.
Noticed a theme developing so have established this set of images with white background